Move offline tapes to other library

[Simpleacc]

Hello,

In our infrastructure we had a Dell TL4000 partitioned with 3 logical libraries (1 logical library per drive). Now we have modified it to 2 logical libraries (2 drives for the first library and another drive for the second), so in Veeam we have a 'library offline'. Can we move the offline tapes from the offline library to the online libraries? I mean, we want to remove the offline library, but because it has offline tapes, we want to be sure that if we remove the library from veeam, we will be able to restore data from those tapes. Will be the case? Or will be impossible restore the data from those tapes because Veeam will not be able to locate them?

Best regards,

[Dima P.]

Hello Javier.

Can we move the offline tapes from the offline library to the online libraries?

You can keep the offline tape media within Media Pool. To remove the library from Media Pool open Media Pool properties, go to Tape step and click Manage. You should see the list of assigned libraries - remove the offline library and add the newly created one.

I mean, we want to remove the offline library, but because it has offline tapes, we want to be sure that if we remove the library from veeam, we will be able to restore data from those tapes. Will be the case?

Tape catalog is not related to the library. Veeam B&R threat tape libraries and drives as streaming devices and nothing more.

Or will be impossible restore the data from those tapes because Veeam will not be able to locate them?

Sure. Unless you remove the media pool or the tape media, tape remains in Veeam B&R catalog. Moreover, you can always catalog the previously written tape media to a blank VBR and perform a recovery (this would require much more time as Veeam B&R would need to read all the metadata from the tape). Cheers!

[Simpleacc]

Fantastic!

Thank you for your answer we are going to remove the offline library from the media pool and add the new.

Thanks again.

[kristofjaeken]

Hi guys,
just wanted to confirm something here before I actually remove the library. I have the same thing, added a drive to existing library and partitioned to two logical drives. Original drive is now showing offline in B&R 9.5u4 (build 2866). I have changed the media pools, removing the offline library and adding the new library. The existing tapes still show as being part of the offline library in the media pool. Does this view remain after removing the offline library? Or is everything related to the offline library removed from the UI? I understand Tape catalog is independent from library, just want to make sure the tapes remain visible in the UI. Don't want to catalog all tapes just to make them visible/accessible in B&R. To be complete, all these tapes have status 'protected' and are placed in a vault.

Thanks for your input!

Best regards

[Dima P.]

I have changed the media pools, removing the offline library and adding the new library. The existing tapes still show as being part of the offline library in the media pool. Does this view remain after removing the offline library?

The location will be updated after you've added old tape to the new library (meanwhile tape should be still displayed in the Media Pool even after old tape device is removed). If you've added new tape device to the media pool and then removed the old tape device it should work without issues. Cheers!

[kristofjaeken]

Great! Thanks for the confirmation Dima. The old library is removed.
Greetings